khuioduan | [01] text; consolidating resources

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[01] text; consolidating resources

[X is very, extremely not used to going public, and part of him is still screaming that this is a bad idea.

But there are other lives that matter more, and if there's anything X can do to help, he wants to do it. Keeping the video and audio functions turned off seems a good precaution to take, at any rate. That way people know who to contact, and he doesn't plaster his identity all over for everyone to see.

... You know, in the world where no one knows who he is. Azri, he's becoming paranoid.]

During the recent lunar festival, several people went missing. The last I heard, everyone's been found except for one person. Unless that's changed, we need to find her, and the authorities here don't really seem to want help from anyone outside the Sentry. Possibly for good reason, I don't know.

The thing is, I'd like to help. I'm sure I'm not the only one, so I thought we could use somewhere on the Lae to coordinate what people saw that day. If anyone took any pictures, especially around the funhouse, please share them here if you can. She has family, and I have no doubt they want her home safe.

Thank you.

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I missed that. what happened? criminal activity, kidnapping? or does this have something to do with the dreaming?

I know some sigils I might be able to modify for tracking.

...if sigils still work. I haven't tried any yet.

anyway, put me on the list. I want to help.

The dreaming?

[Oh, yes, one of the planes. Hm.]

No one's sure what happened. Several people went missing near the funhouse during the festival, and then everyone turned up at the end of the day except for one. None of them remember what happened to them. If it was a kidnapping, it wasn't a very efficient one.

one of the dimensional planes here. life, dreaming, and death. if weird shit goes down, it's usually thanks to the dreaming.

and that definitely sounds like weird dreaming shit.

has anyone sent in any pictures yet? if we track where and when each person was last seen before they vanished, maybe we'll find a pattern. or restrict the search radius, at least.

[That's new information. X frowns down at the screen.]

Can the dreaming pull people into it without a trace?

[That would explain a lot. And, somewhat ironically, it would be more in line with X's experience.]

Not yet. I've heard there's a network for photos here, but I can't remember what it's called. Zazu, I think. There might be something on there, but if there is, I have no idea how to find it.

The funhouse is the only connection any of us found.

from what I can tell, the dreaming can do whatever the hell it wants.

I'll check it out. I don't know this system at all, but it's still computers, basically. can't be that hard to crack.

[... Noted. Unpredictable dreaming stuff. Sounds a lot like the forest, as far as X is concerned.]

You said you could modify sigils for tracking. How would that work? Is it related to cracking the computer system?

no, different skillset. sigils are something I picked up from another foreigner. it's not native magic, but it still works here. most of what I know is geared around magitech, but if the dreaming left any kind of energy trace, I might be able to work something up that could track the signature.

[For the purposes of full disclosure, he adds:] it's a long shot. [Maybe it wasn't the Dreaming. Maybe it didn't leave a detectable energy signature. Maybe he won't be able to sync up a sigil to it. Maybe the sigil won't pick up anything useful. Maybe all it will tell them is that she's gone someplace they can't retrieve her from. Too many unknown variables.]

There was an energy trace left behind, actually, but I don't know if it was the Dreaming. Someone who says they have good eyesight saw traces of it, but nothing definitive, and nothing like it anywhere else.

Maybe we can do both. Sigil tracking, and computer cracking. Can anyone follow the sigils once you create them?

I wasn't near that area, but I can do some looking now. Do you have anything else to go on?

Good luck. A few of us already tried, but the area was too busy and we didn't find anything. Maybe you'll catch something we missed.

Not much, I'm afraid. The missing girl, she's a Kinnal.

[A moment later:]

Kin'nal.

Edited (you saw nothing) 2018-01-19 09:09 (UTC)

It might be the trail's cold, but it wouldn't be the first time.

[For cold trails, magic disappearances, or any of the above. Eve makes a mental note that the apostrophe is important there.]

Kin'nal are fairly small, right?

Are you an investigator?

[Does this world have a preference for attracting detectives? Hm.]

Yes. Short, with bumpy skin. You can hear them hissing when they talk.

Something like that. I've done my fair share of tracking missing things and people.
Especially when there's magic involved.

[New mental note made about the kin'nal. She's still trying to get everyone straight, but she'll remember this.]

Okay. Thanks.

When is magic ever not involved?

[A message he sends without thinking. Different worlds, X reminds himself. From the person's wording, magic isn't pervasive throughout their whole society.]

Will you let me know if you find anything?

Hey, it happens sometimes.

[To be fair, it probably is magic.]

Sure. I'll shoot you a text.

And when it happens, someone else does the tracking?

[He's both amused and genuinely curious.]

Thank you. I'll do the same for you.

Mostly, yeah. I don't usually work alone.

[But hey, being busy means she doesn't sit and miss her team. She just... looks for where they should be beside her every step of the way. Yeah, that's definitely better.]

Appreciate it.

[It didn't convey over text, but Wendy was frowning deeply. Between this and being informed there was no line of authority to consult over her (alleged) kidnapping case...she was having serious issues with what passed for law in this place.]

I have many years of law enforcement experience. Do you have an image of the missing individual?

No, nothing like that. I'm sorry. The Sentry might, but all I got was a rough description.

[Which X proceeds to share, because he doesn't see a reason not to. The more people searching, the better. And while he needs to -- needed to -- be careful of law enforcement back home, they were still good people who wanted to do right by the people they protected. So X has no doubt this person is the same.]

I suppose that will have to do for now. It is better than no information at all, which I've also had to work with in the past. If you come across more, then please inform me as soon as possible. I will return the favor if my search turns up anything.

[There's a pause before the next message. Someone isn't used to friendly and helpful law enforcement. He'll need to work on that, he sees.]

Thank you. I'll send you a message if I learn anything more.

Don't have much, but I asked around and despite the crowds, no one seems to have seen when anyone disappeared.

[Just noticing the distraught confusion or annoyance turning into confusion afterwards.]

I found the same thing. A lot of people said their friends might as well have vanished into thin air, and it looks like they returned the same way.

It's puzzling.

Got a suggestion of illusion, which could work if that's a thing here, since that could be used to hide a lot of things, but unless we've got a way to check that, that's another dead end.

[Illusion. X's smile is sad when he reads the message. He knows someone who could help with that, if this world ever saw fit to bring her here. As things stand...]

In my experience, illusions can't affect a person's memories. And none of the victims remember a thing.

Although, did you see the funhouse? It had a lot of minor party illusions, didn't it?

Illusions for everybody around so they don't notice until it's too late, something... else for the people getting kidnapped. Probably kept them subdued.

[It makes him shiver, briefly, where he's bent over the device, remembering the cold press of the stone against his horn and the subtle whisper of the red thread... He shakes the phantom sensation away and focuses back on what he's doing.]

Huh, yeah. It's kinda a theme, isn't it? Twisting your perception...

[Which might, maybe, account for all of it? However it'd be done.]

If it was a large-scale illusion, it would be easier if you had a foundation to build off of. Lots of mirrors, lots of twists and turns. That's assuming magic works the same way here as it does in our worlds, but why else would the funhouse be the only connection?

[... Is he rambling? He can't tell.]

Not a clue, but yeah, the imagery is very... fitting, for it to mean nothing with the fun house being the only apparent connection.

Man... I hope someone finds some more information, and soon. Taking time in these circumstances is never good.

It's possible that the investigators are concerned about the missing girl's situation being made worse, if it's something along the lines of a kidnapping for ransom?

That's true. If the kidnappings were deliberate, then the last thing anyone would want is a panicked kidnapper.

[But something doesn't ring true, and X can't put his finger on what it is.]

Do you think it's a single kidnapper?

I think it's likely a single GROUP of them, yes. The actual number of disappearances suggests more than one assailant, but the timing is too coincidental for it to be more than one collective taking advantage of the time and location.

[That makes more sense. It's also far more complicated, both practically and emotionally, and it makes X's heart sink.]

You sound like you have experience with disappearances like these. Are you a detective?

I'm not a detective nor with the police, but a good deal of my responsibility at home involves investigating supernatural phenomenon, and disappearances are unfortunately a common denominator among them.

[ Witches targeted innocents all the time. ]

[An investigator, then. There's a great many of them here. Right now, X can only count that as a blessing.]

And you think it's a group? Do you have any idea why they'd keep only one of their captives and not everyone else?

There's still issues with the hypothesis, admittedly. Of those who disappeared, only one hostage retained would heavily restrict the amount of ransom one could gain. The Kin'nal family, as I understand it, is not notably more well-off than their peers. Additionally, the likelihood of those all kidnapped but not witnessing anything of note, either from their taking or their release, is unlikely.

[The Fool has been considering his response for some time. It comes slowly; he does not type well.]

You may count on my aid, my friend.

[X smiles when he sees the name.]

Thank you. I don't suppose you've learned anything new since we last saw each other?

Nothing yet, [types the Fool--painstakingly slowly.] But I perhaps have found an ally to aid us. Shall we meet soon to discuss what we've learned?

That sounds like a good idea. Would you mind introducing us?

He is a prickly sort, but no, I would not mind. Perhaps we should agree to meet as a trio sometime soon.

Sorry, I didn't think of taking pictures of the funhouse.

[Leo, once he heard about the missing people, had instead looked around rather fruitlessly with his eyes, and he'd really only used his camera for taking pictures of his bibiru. He firmly resolved to pay attention more in the future.]

All I can say is that because of my good eyesight I saw traces of some sort of energy left behind, but thats nothing definitive. I've not seen it in any other places, nor would I be able to find the girl if I didn't get a look at her aura.

Energy?

[Huh.]

Was there any particular pattern to it? Swirls, or lines, or trails?

It was swirly, but it faded pretty quick after I noticed it like it was fading away. I dunno if that helps at all, but if I spot it again, I could tell you if its the same stuff.

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[01] text; consolidating resources

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